Published 5:30 pm, Thursday, January 23, 2014

On his last day, the outgoing Saratoga Springs mayor filled 20 vacancies.

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The appointees and the new mayor should look at this as an opportunity to put community before politics.

During her successful campaign for mayor of Saratoga Springs, Joanne Yepsen vowed to better engage residents by holding community forums and creating citizen task forces to address the needs of the city's 26,000 residents.

Her refreshing openness was a sharp contrast to the man she replaced on Jan. 1, Scott Johnson, who often shunned the public's involvement in the business of the city.

Ms. Yepsen's community engagement is the right approach for a city on the verge of a population boom fueled by major economic development. Add to that the thorny issues surrounding the possibility of the Saratoga racino becoming a full-blown casino in a community that voted against a state ballot measure to legalize Las Vegas-style gaming.

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But this new spirit of openness has had a setback. Just hours before he left office New Year's Eve, Johnson arranged a surprise for Ms. Yepsen: He filled 20 vacancies on a host of panels, including the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and an advisory committee on open space. The open space group hadn't met in five years, raising the question that has to be asked about all these appointments: What made filling them so urgent that Mr. Johnson couldn't leave it to his successor?

Sad to say, such end-of-term appointments are not uncommon. It's often a last-ditch effort by an outgoing politician to hand out a patronage plum or retain some lasting influence. In many cases, it's nothing more than an blatant attempt to nullify the results of a recent election.

We're disappointed that Mr. Johnson would pull a tactic like this. And we are disappointed with Ms. Yepsen for not disclosing the names of those appointed while she researches whether she has any legal recourse in the matter. Where's the openness and transparency she has promised? Without knowing who the appointees are, citizens can't assess their qualifications and gain any insight to Mr. Johnson's motivations. These are, after all, members of public bodies, at least for now. The secrecy is inappropriate.

Even if Ms. Yepsen finds she has no authority to undo Mr. Johnson's last-minute packing of these boards and committees, there's a civic-minded way to resolve this. The appointees should volunteer their resignations and let the mayor decide who stays and who goes. And we would look to Ms. Yepsen to give those candidates fair and full consideration.

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Here's a chance for Mr. Johnson's appointees to renounce what by all appearances was a crassly political move, and an opportunity for Ms. Yepsen to show that she is ready to work with people from different political backgrounds. That's the spirit of collaboration and bipartisanship the city needs as it confronts its future — a spirit both sides can show with their actions, not just words.